Repeated refusals by the government to publish the
results of Gateway reviews into the ID cards scheme were criticised
during a parliamentary debate last week.
The Earl of Northesk, a Conservative peer, referred in the
debate on ID cards to Computer Weekly's efforts to persuade
officials to publish Gateway reviews.
The reviews are independent assessments of how risky IT projects
are progressing. They are carried out by the Office of Government
Commerce, which has turned down repeated requests by MPs and under
the Freedom of Information Act for the results of the reviews to be
published.
Northesk said the cost of ID cards would be dependent on the
technology used. "I note that various organisations, notably the IT
magazine Computer Weekly, have resorted to the Freedom of
Information Act to elicit information about the status of a variety
of IT procurement projects across government," he said.
"The justification for refusing to release the information is,
as far as I am aware, rooted in issues of commercial
confidentiality.
"Perhaps I am being unnecessarily obtuse, but I simply cannot
conceive of how the release of appropriate information about which
stage of the Gateway process the ID cards scheme has reached, and
the status of each stage within the traffic light system, could
impinge upon commercial confidentiality."
Shadow Treasury spokeswoman Baroness Noakes raised the subject
of the government's refusal to publish the results of the risk
register - a list of risks - on the ID cards scheme. Computer
Weekly had asked under the Freedom of Information Act for the risk
register to be published, but the Home Office refused.
Noakes said, "Freedom of Information requests have produced no
useful information on the Gateway reviews or the risk registers
that government projects are supposed to draw up.
"When we add this secrecy to the secrecy about costs, we see one
of the most opaque and unsatisfactory set of proposals parliament
has ever had to consider."
The Lords blocked the ID cards scheme until the costs are
known.